Spring suspension



Nov. 12, 1940. K. l.. scHn-'F SPRING SUSPENSION Filed NOV. 19, 1957' Patented Nov. 12, g

UNITED i STATES 2camels PATENT orifice seme s'UsrENsrox' xm Ladys; senin, Philadelphia, Pa'.

' Appuesnon November 19, 1931, sei-w Nn. 115,504

. Y In November 19, 1936 o s claims. (CL zei-57) The invention' refers to spring suspension'of steered wheels especially for motor vehicles. It is an object of the invention to make possible or at least facilitatethe use of torsion springs for such wheel ysuspension in which eachwheel is borne by one end of the lever, the other end oi which being fastened swingable aroundla sub'-4 stantially horizontal axis to a.. second leverwhich in turn is mounted swingable around a substan The drawing showsrdiagrammatically and per` spectively in, Fig. 1 one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 a second embodiment, and Fig. 3 a third embodiment of the invention.

Bearings I0 of the chassis frame 9 support a steering knuckle II. An arm or member. I2is rigidly connected to this knuckle Il. A second lever I4 has a horizontal arm I5 and is supported by said arm in a bearing 'I3 provided at the free end of the arm I2. The other end. of the lever I4 is provided with an axle I6 supporting the steered wheel 23. The member |I,|2 is connected to the steering mechanism in any known manner bythe steering rods 24. The torsion spring I'| is4 fastened by one of its ends at I8 to the arm I2 near the bearing I3. The spring I'I is rotatably supported near its other end by bearing |9 rigidly connected to the arm I2. YThe rotatably supported end of the spring I1 `is rigidly connected with an arm 20; A link 21 is journaled to the arm 20 and to the extension 2| of lever I4. It is obvious that the wheel'23 and its axle I6 can only be moved upwardly 4with respect to the chassis frame 9 in twisting the' spring II by means of the intermediate members I4, 2|, 22

`and 20. o. l Many modifications of the embodiment Vaccording to Fig. 1 are possible. The spring may for instance be mounted on lever I4 orone torsion spring arrangement; may be mounted on lever |2 and a second one on lever I4. These;

two spring' arrangements vact together' in supporting the wheel. Moreover, many differentv means may be used for connecting the spring and the levers.v 4

The embodiment shown in Fig. 2 shows a tubular steering knuckle AIIb supported rotatably around the vertical axis in bearings |0b of the chassis frame 9b. This steering knuckle I I b is again rigidly connected to a lever IIb which in turn supports by a. bearing I3b, the arm lib of a second lever |4b. The lever I4b shows again the axle ISb supportingA rotatably the steered road wheel 23h. The axle knuckle IIb is coni nected to the steering rod 2lb in any convenient manner. A torsion spring 28 is arranged within the tubular steering knuckle IIb and one of its ends is rigidly fastened to the one end wall 21 of the tubular axle knuckle IIb. The other end 1D Y of the spring 28 is surrounded by a tubular member, 29 which is rotatably arranged within the tubular steering knuckle IIb. This tubular member 29 may also be formed as a torsion spring. An arm 30 is rigidly connected to the 1| `free end of the tubular member 29 and projects outwardly through an opening 38 of the tube IIb. A link member 3| is journaled by one of its ends to the arm 30 and by its other end to an armr 32. The arm 32' is rigidly connected 8G to the arm |5b of the lever I 4b. lfall the members connected directly and indirectly to' the axle knuckle I Ib are moved together with said axle knuckle, then the spring 28 or 28 and 29 respectively is not iniiuenced at all. ever, the wheel 23h moves up and down together with the axle |6b, then the torsion spring 28 or 28 and 29 respectively is twisted.

Also the embodiment shown in Fig. 2 allows many modifications in the details. For instance, an it is not necessary that the torsion spring extends in both directions of the steering knuckle or the lever actuating the spring does not have to be fastened near the middle of the spring. Moreover, the spring does not necessarily have 35 v`to be arranged co-axially with the steering knuckle but may for instance be arranged parallel to but spaced from the axis of that knuckle. lThe embodiment according to Fig. 3 `shows again chassis frame members 9c, bearings I 0c, o an axle knuckle Ilo, a lever |2c connected with said knuckle, a bearing |3c on the free end of said lever, a' second lever I4c supported by an arm |5`c in said bearing |3c and provided with an axle |6c supporting the wheel 23eJ and, nally, 5

a steering rod 24e connecting the axle knuckle IIe with the steering mechanism (not shown). So far the embodiment according to Fig. 3 corresponds exactly to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1. A torsion spring 33 is mounted substantially hori- 50 zontally on thechassis frame in such a manner than one of its ends is rigidly connected at 34 to the chassis 9c whereas the spring is supported near its second end rotatably by a bearing 35 forming a. part of the chassis frame. 'I'he ro 55 If, hOW- tatably mounted end of the spring 38 is provided with an arm Il and the lever llc is promovement o! the wheel Zlc together with the end of lever Mc relative to the chassis frame.

Also this last embodiment allows many modications. The spring may for instance be arranged in any angular position with respect to the longitudinal direction of the car.

All expressions used in the foregoing description and in the following claims have to be taken in their broadest sense. The expression "torsion spring is intended not only to comprise torsion rods made from steel, but, for instance, also such torsion springs comprising'rubber members. The expression chassis frame is intended to comprise also self-sustaining bodies and combined chassis and body underframes. Finally, it has to be pointed out that in all embodiments the single lever Il, Mb or Mc respectively may be substituted by two or more levers as it is well known to those skilled in the art. What I claim is:

1. In a vehicle, a steering knuckle mounted rotatably around a substantially vertical axis on the chassis framework and rigidly connected with a lever, a second lever mounted rotatably around a substantially horizontal axis spaced from that steering knuckle on said rst lever, a road wheel supported by said ysecond lever at a point distant from the connecting point with the second lever,

a torsion spring arrangement, being mounted on 

